Centre offers Rs 2.5 lakh for inter-caste marriage with Dalit

The central government has made a decision to change their inter-caste marriage law with an offer of giving Rs 2.5 lakh to the newly-married couple with at least one Dalit individual. This scheme will be applicable for all couples, either the bride or the groom is a Dalit.

Earlier, the scheme was meant only for such couples whose was below Rs 5 lakh per annum.

When the scheme was launched in 2013, the government had expected a much larger number of couples to queue up and had capped the number of beneficiaries to 500 annually. It also requires the marriage to be registered under the Hindu Marriage Act, the proposal to be submitted within a year of marriage, and that it should be the first marriage for both spouses. The official stated that the scheme was poorly implemented since it was begun in 2013 reports the Indian Express. "In a notification, the government said inter-caste marriages would be allowed only up to 35 years, and the couple would be entitled to only half the incentive money". This year, of the 409 proposals it has received so far, the social justice ministry has cleared only 74 couples. Now the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has removed the ceiling, while simultaneously making it mandatory for them to submit Aadhaar numbers and bank account details.

According to the Officials from the Ministry not meeting the all the stated pre-conditions are the reasons for lower approval rate and recommendations by an MP, MLA, or District Collector.